Hey y'all, don't have much to talk about here, but thanks for all the follows and favs! 33 favs and 51 follows in less than a week is great! Thank you all for the continued support, since it has been a while since I've posted a fanfic chapter. Now- ONTO THE STORY!
Year 784- Hargeon
"Dammit!" a blonde teenager yelled out as she violently kicked a few pebbles into the river bank, "What a damn rip-off! Knocking off only 1,000 jewels?! What a scam…" the girl stared angrily at a certain key she had bought herself, before sighing and putting it back into her pocket. She gazed out at the sea in front of her with her big, caramel eyes as she brushed her hair to the back of her ear.
"Hopefully this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass," the girl thought out loud to herself as she headed towards a nearby hotel, "I don't know if I have enough money to rent a hotel room for the night… I guess have to join a guild and look for jobs there. As long as I don't have to come back home and face… him." She shuttered a bit, before noticing a huge crowd amassing near the middle of the town plaza.
"I wonder what's over there?" the girl thought, before being slammed violently against the wall by a horde of girls.
"H-hey! What the he- Ow! Stop that! GETTOFF!" With a massive roar, Lucy pushed back against the horde, causing some of them to fall to the ground. But they paid no heed, as they quickly got themselves up and ran towards the crowd, screaming various things.
"OMG! IT'S SALAMANDER!"
"IS IT REALLY HIM?"
"IT CAN'T BE!"
"OH MY GAWD IT REALLY IS HIM!"
"HE'S SO GODDAMN SEXY!"
The girl who crashed into the wall frowned slightly as she dusted herself off.
"Salamander?" Lucy thought to herself, "Where have I heard that name before?" Suddenly, a memory popped up into her head, and realization struck. Before long, the blonde girl was pushing her way through the crowd, hoping to reach the vicinity of the plaza.
"If I can befriend the Salamander," the girl thought to herself excitedly, "I might be able to come to his guild- Fairy Tail!"
Fairy Tail. One of the most legendary guilds in all of Fiore, Fairy Tail is currently ranked the number one guild in Fiore. It is home to many famous and powerful wizards who have yet to reach the pinnacle of their powers. Salamander, the guild's famous resident hothead. Titania, the Queen of the Fairies. The Dragon of the Storm. But the most infamous of all of them would be-
"The Slayer of Death!" the girl squealed in her head excitedly.
This particular mage is considered one of the most powerful wizards in all of Fiore, despite the fact that he is only 21 years old. He is an SS-class mage, and is in line to become the next Wizard Saint. The Slayer of Death is notorious for bringing down numerous amounts of dark guilds, and has even clashed against one of the Oracion Seis in his earlier years as a mage and somehow left that fight relatively unscathed.
"I've been following the Slayer of Death's fights for years!" the girl grinned to herself, "It would be an honor to be in the same guild as him!"
Eventually the girl managed to reach the town plaza, panting in exhaustion. She looked around and spotted that the crowd was gathering around the fountain area, where a huge circle of squealing girls was surrounding a figure in the middle of them.
"Finally!" the girl wheezed as she again made her way through the crowd. When she finally got to the circle, her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of the Salamander. He was… stunning.
His mildly rectangular face, his dark blue hair, his dark eyes, the tattoo over his right eyebrow, even the cape that he was wearing… Everything about him was perfect.
Salamander was laughing as the women swooned over him, his cape swaying dramatically in the wind as he flashed his pearly whites for all to see.
"Ladies, ladies!" Salamander spoke heartedly, grinning from ear to ear as he posed in front of them, "One at a time! I'll sign your autograph's one at a time! Just give me some room to write!" Women in the background began screaming out.
"SIGN MY SHIRT!"
"SIGN MY BACK!"
"SIGN MY FOREHEAD!" the blonde girl smiled towards Salamander as he continued to flash his amazing fire tricks. The blonde girl pressed her right hand over her chest, feeling her heart beat a thousand times a second.
"Is this," the girl thought "Lov-" Suddenly, she felt a cold feeling washing over her back. The blonde girl quickly turned around, wide-eyed. While she couldn't spot anyone in the crowd behind her, she knew that somebody within that crowd was very, very powerful. The magic she felt was oddly cold, and not in the sense that it was some sort of Ice Magic. It was cold in the sense that the magic was somewhat… sinister.
The girl looked around and noticed that the other girls in the crowd didn't seem to notice the ominous presence looming around, and turned back to Salamander. The girl frowned, noticing that Salamander was definitely less attractive than he was before. In fact, he came off very douchey, as she sensed he was treating the girls with the upmost contempt. The girl's expression soured, and she proceeded to turn away from Salamander.
"Are all the members of Fairy Tail similar to this dude?" the girl thought to herself, "Maybe it's not the best idea to join a guild after all. Maybe I could get a job at a publishing company?"
"OK, ladies!" Salamander laughed behind the girl, "You get a signature, and you get a signature, and you-"
Suddenly, the girl felt something fast run past her. Something very fast, and immensely hot. Lucy blinked and turned around to see a figure running through the crowd, making a beeline towards Salamander. Salamander noticed this too, but before he or the girl could react in time, the figure was already in front of him.
The figure proceeded to throw back his right arm, and his hand burst into flames- a flame so hot that even the girl, who was a few meters away from Salamander, could feel.
"Fire Dragon's-" The figure launched his fist straight towards Salamander's face, "IRON FIST!" The fist connected straight into Salamander's jaw, and, with a loud roar, sent Salamander flying straight into a clock tower. The impact was so strong, the clock tower proceeded to crash down on top of him. While the entire crowd, including the blonde hair girl, was shocked to their core, the figure was stomping his foot up and down in a tantrum.
"Dammit!" The figure complained, "That wasn't Igneel! What a goddamn scam! Coming all the way to the sea by train, vomiting myself to death! AND THIS IS WHAT I GET?!" As the girl took time to look over the figure, she realized he was probably 3 or 4 years younger than her. He wore an unbuttoned blue vest, baggy white pants, sandals, and a scaly white scarf. He had black hair that was sort of tinted purple, as well as warm, black eyes, although his face was contorted into a scowl at the very moment.
The girls around the boy, including the blonde one, blinked a few times.
"… H-he killed Salamander!" One girl called out.
"GET HIM!" With a synchronized yell, all the girls, apart from the blonde girl leapt towards the boy, with the intent to slay the boy where he stood. But before they could reach him-
"Fire Dragon's Rockets!" The boy's feet ignited in flames, shooting himself above the girls. He looked down in curiosity as the girls crashed into each other, creating a large dog pile underneath him.
"Oye! He's not Salamander!" The boy called out above them, "I'm the real Salamander, he's just poser- WHOA!" The boy ducked as a shoe was chucked at his head by one of the onlookers.
"YOU'RE THE WORST!"
"GET DOWN HERE SO WE CAN KICK YOUR ASS!"
"HOW DARE YOU KILL OUR BELOVED SALAMANDER-SAMA!" The boy sighed and lightly facepalmed himself.
"I told you, he ain't the real Salamander! And he ain't dead either, look!" All the girls looked towards the collapsed clock tower and heard someone groaning from under the rubble. A hand popped out, and 'Salamander' dragged himself out of the rubble, developing a bruise right on his jaw.
"OH NO! HIS FACE! HIS BEAUTIFUL FACE!"
"HOW COULD YOU HURT THIS BEAUTIFUL MAN!" The boy blinked a couple of times.
"Beautiful? Him?" the boy questioned, looking at 'Salamander' again, then turning back to the crowd incredulously, "Are you all high?"
"No, they're not." An ominous and monotone voice called out. The blonde girl froze, feeling that cold magic yet again, but this time the feeling was much stronger this time around. She turned around to see a cloaked figure walking briskly through the crowd. That cold magic, in the form of a gray aura, was emitting from him.
It seemed that the rest of the crowd finally noticed the magic emitting from the figure, and were stepping back from him as he made a beeline towards 'Salamander', who was struggling to remove a piece of rubble that was pinning him to the ground. The cloaked figure, in an impressive feat of strength, promptly picked up the rubble on 'Salamander' with only one hand, and with the other hand, locked 'Salamander' up with handcuffs. He turned towards the boy floating in the sky as he tossed away the rubble.
"They seem to be affected by Charm magic," the cloaked figure spoke with a chilling tone, "Didn't I tell you not to cause any property damages?"
"Oh c'mon," the boy whined back, "I didn't think he'd fly that far!"
The cloaked figure grunted in response, before pulling 'Salamander' out of the rest of the rubble. 'Salamander' cried out in pain. That cry of pain seemed to rouse the crowd.
"H-hey! What are you doing to our beloved?!" One girl yelled out, and the other girls yelled out similar messages. The cloaked figure sighed in annoyance.
"Still under the charm magic influence, huh," the figure murmured, before lifting up his hood. The blonde girl's heart skipped a beat as she took in the man's features. The figure wore a black muscle t-shirt, with black camo pants and black leather gloves that were cut off at the tip, in addition with the black cloak tied behind him that had been covering his face. The man's face was sharply cut in feature, with noticeable salmon hair and obsidian eyes. Those eyes were what captivated the blonde girl the most, as he stared sharply towards the crowd. As the man continued to stare hard at the crowd, the grayish aura seemed to become more visible and threatening for the girls, as they slowly backed down, one-by-one. Eventually, the crowd dispersed, half in fear, half in realization, as the boy landed next to the man, frowning.
"Jeez, nee-san," the boy scolded, "You didn't have to be that mean towards the girls." The man blinked as he dragged 'Salamander' from the rubble.
"To be honest… I was just trying to think of something to say."
"…Really?"
"Although, this was effective enough, so I don't really care."
While the two figures were talking with each other, the blonde girl stood there staring at the two in awe. Never before has she seen such magic power being emitted by two mages.
"Just… Who are they?" the girl thought to herself. Then, she heard a high-pitched pant coming from her side.
"Romeooooo, Natsuuuuuu, you both move too fast…" the girl turned to her side in time to see a blue cat walking on its hind legs, with a green sack tied around its neck.
"… huh?" the blonde girl said audibly. The blue cat turned to look at the girl, tilting its head.
"Hm?"
"…"
"…"
"… GAH! A TALKING CAT!"
"GAH! A TALKING BIMBO!" Both sides jumped away from each other, pointing fingers at each other in shock. The girl registered what the cat had said, and a tick mark appeared on her forehead.
"OYE! WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' BIMBO!" Momentarily forgetting that the cat talked in favor of her anger at being called a bimbo, the girl pinched both sides of the cat's cheeks and pulled on them.
"OW OW OW OW! ROMEOOOO! HELP ME! I'M GOING TO GET EATEN!" the cat cried out as the girl pulled harder, grinding her teeth in fury.
"Um, 'scuse me, miss?" the blonde girl turned around to see the boy, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah?"
"Can you stop pulling on Happy's cheeks?" The girl was confused for a second.
"Happy? You mean the cat?" The girl quickly looked back towards the cat, who was whimpering in pain, "Oh, right, sorry." She let go of Happy's cheeks, and the cat quickly ran to the boy's side, hugging his leg.
"WAHHHHH! ROMEO, THAT GIRL WAS MEAN TO ME!" Romeo smiled cheekily and patted Happy on the head.
"To be perfectly fair, you did call her a bimbo, so… you deserved it." Happy's eyes began to water. He pulled away from Romeo's leg and ran towards the salmon-haired man.
"WAHHHH! NATSUUUU! ROMEO'S BEING MEAN TO ME!"
"I don't care."
"BUT WHYYYYYYYY?!"
Sheepishly, Romeo turned towards the blonde hair girl.
"Sorry about my cat. He's… very eccentric." The blonde girl nodded in understanding.
"No, it's ok, I shouldn't have acted the way I did anyways," the blonde girl responded, before remembering something Romeo had said before. "Is it true that you're the real Salamander?" Romeo beamed at the question and puffed out his chest a bit in pride.
"Yep! Romeo Conbolt, pleasure to meet ya!" The blonde girl smiled.
"Wow… I mean, I didn't think you were that young." The boy narrowed his eyes a bit, and his grin began to lessen a bit.
"Is that a problem?"
"Oh, oh no, not at all. I was just thinking that you've already accomplished so much in such a short span of time!" The boy went back to grinning, rubbing the back of his head.
"Of course I have!" Romeo laughed to himself, beating himself in the chest a bit, "I'm Fairy Tail's strongest mage, after all-"
"No." suddenly, the man was right next to Romeo in an instant, dragging the fake Salamander's body with him and had Happy attached to his leg whining. Romeo began to sweat profusely, his grin frozen in place.
"… Sorry, I'm actually Fairy Tail's second strongest mage-"
"Not even."
"… Third strongest-"
"No."
"… Fourth strongest?"
"Was that a question or a statement." Before long, Romeo shuffled into the distance, crouched down, and began murmuring to himself, drawing imaginary circles with his finger. The man sighed and turned to the blonde girl.
"Please don't feed his ego." The man said stoically. The blonde girl blinked.
"Oh, right… Sorry about that." The man nodded, before turning around to walk away. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" The man turned around to look at the blonde girl.
"… Natsu. Natsu Dragneel." Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened in recognition.
"Wait… Natsu Dragneel? As in the Slayer of Death?" The man raised an eyebrow.
"… That is my nickname, yes." Immediately, the girl's eyes glistened in excitement. She grabbed Natsu's hand and began shaking it profusely.
"OH MY GOD! I'm your biggest fan! I've been following your work for years! It's an honor, sir, it's an honor to finally meet you!" The man wore a puzzled and slightly perturbed expression.
"Right…"
"Can't believe I'm shaking your hand, wowie, like, I'm seriously freaking the fuck out right now, I'm standing next to a legend! Thank you so much for capturing that freak and for letting me shake your hand!" Eventually the girl let go of Natsu's hands as Natsu turned his attention back to the fake Salamander.
"Speaking of that… freak … Happy, open your sack. Look through the wanted flyers and check if this man is a criminal." Silence. "Oye, Happy." Both turned to look at Happy, who was eyeing the girl warily. The girl smiled back apologetically.
"Hey, look, I think we got off on the wrong foot," Lucy said, raising a hand to shake the cat's paw, "Sorry for hurting you. I'm Lucy!" Happy eyed her hand cautiously, and ultimately decided Lucy is a good person and proceeded to shake Lucy's hand.
"Happy. Search. Now." Natsu said impatiently. Happy gave a salute to Natsu.
"Aye sir!" Happy said happily, before dropping his sack and looking through its contents, "Let's see, let's see… fish here … fish there … there's the flyers- HERE! I GOT IT!" Happy fished out the flyer and handed it to Natsu, who took a look at it. Natsu blinked a couple of times, then sighed.
"Happy…" Natsu flipped the flyer around so Happy and Lucy can take a look at it, "Does this look anything like the man we just caught." The picture showed an obese looking man with pink-rimmed glasses, dark blue hair, red lipstick, and a tattoo across his chest that read 'Punish and Enslave'.
"I mean… they both have the same hair color."
"…"
"… Do I still get a fish?"
"No."
"BUT WHYYYY?!" Happy lamented as Lucy looked through the contents of the bag.
"Oh, I think I found it," Lucy pulled the right flyer out of Happy's sack, "His name is Bora of Prominence. His current bounty is 150,000 jewels. He worked for the Titan Nose Guild for a bit, but was kicked out for aiding in thievery. He's wanted for… female slave trading." Lucy's eyes widened.
"I was this close to being sold? Talk about a lucky break…" Lucy thought to herself as Natsu rubbed his chin also deep in thought.
"If he worked in female slave trading, then he must have a crew somewhere," Natsu pulled Bora up by his chains, "Oye. Tell us where your crew is." Bora, having recovered from Romeo's punch, smirked.
"You fool! You let your guard down!" Bora's handcuffed hands took aim directly at Natsu's head.
"Prominence Blast!" Poof! Instead of fire Bora was expecting, a small cloud of smoke harmlessly passed around Natsu's head.
"Anti-magic cuffs," Natsu responded nonchalantly to Bora's confused expression, "Now tell me where your crew is." Bora scowled and spat on the ground.
"Sorry, but I'm not telling you shit." Natsu sighed in annoyance.
"Fine by me." Natsu raised his right hand while holding Bora in place with his left, "Just to let you know, remember how hard my brother hit you?" Bora winced in remembrance.
"Well…" Natsu's eyes glowed red, "I hit harder." Natsu's right hand began to emit a gray magic aura.
"Much. Harder."
"… My crew is in a yacht by the harbor." Bora began spewing all the information he had, his eyes widened in horror, "We have 10 girls stored in the ship's basement. Our main operations are in Fiore and Bosco. My parents are dead, and I am very emotionally unstable. My last name is Benji, and my middle name Is Betty. My social security number is-" Pop. Natsu karate chopped Bora on the neck, causing Bora to slump down, unconscious from the hit.
"Idiot," Natsu murmured, "Social security numbers are meant to be private." Lucy blinked in response.
"… Wait, that's why you knocked him out?" Natsu looked up at Lucy with a blank expression.
"You never, ever, disclose your social security number to anyone. Ever." Lucy sweat dropped in response.
On que, heavy footsteps were heard. Natsu and Lucy turned to see a group of heavily armored knights marching towards them.
"Oh crap!" Happy exclaimed, hiding behind Lucy, "It's the fuzz!"
"You mean the Rune Knights?" Lucy asked Happy, rolling her eyes, before looking back at Natsu, who wore a neutral expression as he stared at one of the Rune Knights, who ordered the others to stay put and began to approach Natsu and Lucy.
"Aren't you worried?" Lucy asked him. Natsu turned to glance at Lucy.
"About what?" Lucy pointed over towards the collapsed clock tower in response. Natsu stared at her incredulously. "Why would I-"
"Pleasure seeing you again, Mr. Dragneel," the Rune Knight who approached them finally stopped in front of Natsu and offered out his hand.
"Oh, we've met before." Natsu shook the Rune Knight's hand, "Marius, right?"
"Yes, glad you remember from before."
"Yeah, from the time I took down that dark guild in the outskirts of Clover, I remember." Natsu glanced over at Lucy, who was gaping at him. "What?" Before Lucy had time to answer, Marius took note of Bora.
"Seems like you caught another criminal there, Mr. Dragneel." Natsu nodded.
"Yes, Bora of Prominence. He has a crew in a yacht by the harbor. Be careful, they have hostages on board." Marius nodded back.
"Got it…" Marius's eyes wandered over to the destroyed clock tower. Natsu picked up what exactly Marius was looking at.
"Oh right. Romeo," Natsu called over to the boy, "Get over here." Romeo, still sulking, trudged towards the small group that formed.
"My brother here is the one that apprehended the criminal," Natsu explained, "But he got carried away and ended up destroying that clock tower. The reward from the bounty will go to repairing the clock tower." Marius grunted in agreement.
"Now Romeo, apologize to the Rune Knight." Natsu commanded. When Romeo ignored him, Natsu put his hand on Romeo's head and made him bow slightly. "Don't make me repeat myself.
Romeo gritted his teeth. "Fine… sorry." Marius chuckled slightly underneath his mask.
"I think you should be apologizing to the mayor of this town, but I'll go ahead and relay that message to him."
Marius turned back to his platoon of soldiers and began to order them around, setting up squadrons to scour the town of any other suspicious activity as well as setting up a squad to infiltrate the yacht containing the criminals. A couple of soldiers came up and took Bora out of Natsu's hands as Natsu turned back to Lucy.
"You're still here?" Natsu questioned. Lucy blinked.
"Oh, right, well I wanted to ask you…" Lucy glanced around at the ongoing activity, "Um… actually, can we talk about it in a diner? I'll pay." Natsu stared at her.
"… I was going to help the Rune Knights take down the rest of the criminals in the yacht, so I'm going to have to decline-"
"Actually, Mr. Dragneel," Marius interjected himself into the conversation, "You should accept her offer." Natsu turned to stare at Marius questioningly as he continued. "I think me and my knights will be able to take down the criminals by ourselves. Also, you should never refuse a lady's offer." Natsu raised an eyebrow while Lucy blushed a bit.
"… Okay." Natsu consented to Lucy's offer. Lucy did a slight fist pump behind Natsu's back, a gesture that Marius seemingly noticed. Marius took off his mask to reveal he had silky blonde hair and blue-green eyes; he also had noticeable wrinkles around his eyes, indicating that he was around his 40s.
"You need to learn to take some time to enjoy yourself, Mr. Dragneel," Marius told Natsu with a smile, "Enjoy the little things in life."
"… Okay," came Natsu's curt response.
"It's been an honor seeing you again, Mr. Dragneel. Remember that you will always have the support of the Rune Knights." As Marius shook hands with Natsu again, Marius glanced over towards Lucy's direction and winked at her knowingly. Lucy blushed a little redder as Marius put his mask back on and motioned to his squad of knights.
"LET'S GO MEN!" As the Rune Knights marched towards the harbor, Natsu turned back towards Lucy.
"So… what place are you taking us too?"
A few hours later
"Boy…"Lucy remarked, her eyes widening as she watched Romeo gobble down a whole ham in under 5 seconds, "You… eat a lot." The group had went to Hargeon Restaurant, where they were seated in a booth.
"I'm a growing boy!" Romeo grinned, having recovered from Natsu's earlier insult while slurping on a bowl of ramen, "I need all the nutrients I can get to get stronger!"
"Romeo. Manners." Natsu said curtly, cutting up a piece of steak elegantly, "Remember, someone's going to have to clean up your mess." Romeo 'mhm-ed' in response while turning his attention to some lamb kebabs. Currently, Lucy had a sandwich, Natsu had a piece of steak with some asparagus, Happy had a fish, and Romeo had… well, everything.
"There goes my money…" Lucy sighed to herself, thinking of her near empty purse. Natsu glanced at Lucy.
"… I'll pay for half." Natsu answered, somehow reading her exact thoughts. Lucy looked up, eyes glistening, and clapped her hands in excitement.
"You will?! Thanks so much!"
"Sure…" Natsu set aside his plate, "Now. What did you want to discuss?" Lucy put down her sandwich as well.
"Oh… well," Lucy began fidgeting her hair, "I was wondering… since you're from Fairy Tail… How in the world did you-"
"Have that conversation with the Rune Knight leader?" Natsu finished, before shrugging, "I took down so many dark guilds, I've just became acquainted to the Rune Knights."
"Right, but that doesn't explain why you earned the respect of the Rune Knights? I mean, most of the Rune Knights tend to hate guilds in general."
"I understand your confusion," Natsu said casually, ignoring the loud chewing noises Romeo was making next to him, "Most Rune Knights do hate guild mages. But that's only because during missions mages tend to act recklessly and destroy the environment around them. That includes my brother over here." Natsu put more emphasis on the word brother, and Romeo flinched in response. Natsu continued.
"I, on the other hand, try to keep the damages at a minimum, and pay for any damages that I do cause with the bounty I received after the completion of a mission. Apparently, both the townspeople and the Rune Knights greatly appreciate it. Oh, and I save a couple of Rune Knights on occasion." Lucy sat wide-eyed at Natsu's response.
"What is it?" Natsu questioned.
"Nothing, I was just thinking how that's very … mature of you." Lucy answered.
"Sure… Gramps did tell me to consider the repercussions of my actions once. I'm trying to instill that same lesson with my brother here. As you can tell, it's not going well. Isn't that right, Romeo?" Romeo swallowed down a burger he chewed up.
"Yup!" Natsu sighed in annoyance while Romeo searched for another food item under the heaps of food that he has stacked up. Something then clicked in Lucy's mind.
"Wait… your last name is Conbolt, while your last name is Dragneel. How are you two brothers?" Natsu and Romeo looked at each other.
"Well," Romeo answered, "We're both adopted. We each had a different dragon for a parent." Lucy blinked in confusion.
"Hold up…" Lucy put her hands on the table, "You're telling me… that you guys have been raised by dragons?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Romeo beamed, "I'm the son of Igneel, the Fire Dragon King! Watch this!" Romeo turned towards a candle that had been lit up on their table. With a deep breath, he sucked in the flames into his mouth, and to Lucy's surprise, managed to swallow the fire. He turned back to Lucy grinning, while Lucy stared at Romeo in shock.
"Wow… That's insane!" Lucy said giddily. Romeo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"I know I know! That's why the magic I use is Fire Dragon Slayer magic!" He pointed over to Natsu. "Nee-san over there uses Death Dragon Slayer magic. He's really powerful!" Lucy turned to Natsu, who was sipping on a glass of wine.
"That's amazing… What's the name of the dragon you were raised by?" Lucy asked.
"That's classified." Natsu replied promptly. Lucy frowned, but Happy chipped in.
"It's alright Lushie, only Gramps knows the identity of Natsu's dragon- the rest of us don't know either!"
"I see…" Lucy turned back to Romeo, "I did hear you say 'Igneel' back in the courtyard. Were you hoping to find him there?" Romeo's grin wavered a bit.
"Well… Wasn't exactly hoping, haha!" Lucy blinked. It seemed, just for a split second, Romeo's expression visibly darkened in anger.
"I'll leave that topic alone for now," Lucy thought to herself, before changing the subject.
"I wonder- Can you tell me what Fairy Tail is like?" Lucy asked. Romeo, finally finishing his meal, looked up at her.
"Well you can just come with us to see the guild yourself!" Romeo replied, beaming towards her.
"AYE SIR!" Happy chirped in. Lucy's face lit up in excitement.
"REALLY! Oh, thanks guys!" Lucy graciously smiled towards the group, "I always wanted to join Fairy Tail!"
"You'd love it there, Lu-" Romeo responded, but then suddenly frowned, "Um… er, sorry, but what was your name again? Luigi?"
"IT'S LUCY!" Lucy yelled at Romeo, who winced in pain from the scream.
"Sorry, sorry," Romeo said, gently rubbing his ears, "I just didn't hear your name clearly back there while I was brooding-"
"Moping," Natsu interjected, "You were moping. Like a little bitch."
"OH SHUT UP! WHO TAUGHT YOU THAT PHRASE ANYWAYS?!" While Romeo was yelling at Natsu, Lucy finally got her bearings back.
"Right, pleased to meet you both!" Lucy said, "I'm Lucy Heartfi- Hart. I'm Lucy Hart!" Lucy shook both Romeo and Happy's hands simultaneously.
"Pleased to meet ya, Lushie!" Happy said happily, while Romeo nodded in agreement. Lucy smiled back, but at the same time she sighed in relief internally to herself.
"Phew. That was close. I can't afford to tell them my real last name- not just yet, anyhow." Lucy thought to herself. Romeo turned to Natsu.
"Hey Natsu, can we take her back with us?" Romeo asked.
"No."
"That's great, I'm all don- wait, the hell do you mean 'No'?" Romeo stared at his brother incredulously as Lucy's expression fell. Natsu sipped his wine glass.
"'No' is used to give a negative response-"
"I KNOW THE DEFINITION OF 'NO', I'M JUST ASKING WHY ARE WE NOT BRINGING HER BACK TO THE GUILD WITH US?!"
"Indoor voice, Romeo."
"Oh, sure, now you wanna act all gentlemanly-like – what the absolute fuck nee-san?! Just tell me why you don't want to bring her with us?!"
"… I don't want to." Romeo facepalmed so hard the rest of the restaurant goers turned around to stare at them. Lucy became very dejected as she slumped down on her chair.
"The Slayer of Death… rejected my application…" Lucy's soul seemingly fluttered out of her mouth. Happy desperately tried to snap Lucy back into consciousness by shaking her hard while Romeo panicked in his seat.
"Oye! Lucy, you're application wasn't rejected!" Romeo yelled towards Lucy, before turning to scold his brother, "Nee-san, Lucy's clearly a great person! Give me one good reason why you don't want Lucy to join the guild?"
"… A hunch."
"A hunch? A hunch is what's causing you to not accept Lucy into the guild?!"
"Yes."
Romeo sighed in frustration for a second, before an idea popped in his head.
"If you don't allow us to bring Lucy to our guild," Romeo whispered into Natsu's ear, "I'll release those pictures of you in your birthday suit to Sorcerer's Weekly." This caught Natsu's attention right when he was about to pay for the meal, as he froze mid-way. Natsu turned to Romeo, his eyes narrowed.
"You won't dare." Natsu hissed. Romeo grinned maniacally in response.
"Try me… little bitch."
A few hours later- Magnolia
"So who's this Gramps you've been talking about?"
"You'll find out."
"Is it true you fought an Oracion Seis Member and managed to come out unscathed at age 16?"
"Age 18."
"Is it true you were able to destroy a dark guild with one pinkie?"
"Yes."
"Is it true-"
"Look," Natsu interjected, his eyes twitching uncontrollably, "We're here, so for the sake of my sanity, please shut up."
Lucy looked up in amazement. In front of her was the Fairy Tail guild. While it definitely wasn't enormous, the guild looked impressive. And the sheer magical power coming from within the guild was so staggering, Lucy already felt overwhelmed.
"Wow…" Lucy murmured to herself.
"You good, Luigi?" Romeo asked. Lucy sighed, knowing this was the 10th time Romeo got her name wrong. On the same day.
"It's Lucy… but anyways, it just feels very overwhelming." Romeo laughed in response.
"If you think that's overwhelming, you should see what's in the inside!"
"AYE SIR!"
Romeo went up to the door of the guild, then turned back to Lucy, grinning. Happy was floating right beside him.
"Are you ready?" Lucy nodded vigorously. And within moments, Romeo kicked the door open.
"WE'RE BACK!"
I'm noticing that I've been writing way more in the early chapters here than what I did in the original story. I just feel I'm describing the events in a more organized and sensible manner. In other words, one of the main problems I had with my original was that I was kind of rushing through events in my earlier chapters without delving too much into the characters. So this time around I made sure to sort of build the characters' personalities, since this is an alternate universe where people don't exactly have the same personalities as they did in the original Fairy Tail storyline. I also changed the backstory of Romeo- you'll find out what I have in mind for him in the later chapters. Also, the Marius character I made up is probably going to be a one-off character, depending on how y'all feel about him.
Please review this newest chapter, and please give some insight about Natsu's personality. I realize I made him a bit more robotic and less of an asshole, but I was wondering if you guys like the new Natsu for this fanfic? Or should I adjust his personality to match the one he had in my original fanfic?
Review Answers:
littleboyblack17- Noice, indeed :D
Crosheo- Yep, it's great to be back! Hope I don't disappoint in the later chapters!